What The Psychic Knew | With Angela Bassett18:54

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On this podcast, we've explored young love and old but in this episode, we're landing right smack in the center: mid-life. When writer Marcia DeSanctis hit 40 and settled into married life with two kids, she realized that the second half of her life had no roadmap. So now what?

Voices In This Episode:

(Courtesy of Angela Bassett)

This season Angela Bassett joins the directing team of the highly anticipated sixth season of FX’s "American Horror Story" and also returns as a member of the all-star cast. She received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries for her work as Marie Laveau in "American Horror Story: Coven" as well as for her work as Desiree Dupree in the carnival themed "American Horror Story: Freak Show."

Last season Angela reprised her role as Lynne Jacobs in "London Has Fallen," the sequel to "Olympus Has Fallen," alongside Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, and Morgan Freeman. She also appeared in Spike Lee’s film, "Chiraq" for Amazon Studios; and writer/director Stephen Poliakoff’s mini-series "Close To The Enemy," for BBC 2 alongside Jim Sturgess, Freddie Highmore, Charlotte Riley, and Alfred Molina.

Angela was nominated for her first DGA Award for her directorial debut of Lifetime’s film "Whitney;" a biopic that chronicled the loving and tumultuous relationship between Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown. Her directing project last season was an episode on water issues for National Geographic Channel’s innovative new series "Breakthrough," an anthology about leading scientists from across the globe and their cutting-edge, life-changing innovations and advancements.

Perhaps best known for her intense portrayal of Tina Turner in the biopic "What's Love Got To Do With It," opposite Laurence Fishburne, Angela earned the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical, an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture, and an Academy Award nomination for her powerful performance.

Angela first made the successful crossover to the silver screen when she appeared in a small but rich role as the ambitious single mother who sends her son to live with his father in John Singleton’s "Boyz N The Hood." Other memorable roles include, Terry McMillan’s "Waiting to Exhale," co-starring Whitney Houston, Kathryn Bigelow’s futuristic "Strange Days," with Ralph Fiennes, "Vampire In Brooklyn," opposite Eddie Murphy, and "Supernova" with James Spader. She also starred as Violetta Wallace, mother of slain rapper, Christopher "Notorious B.I.G." in "Notorious."

Angela has received eleven NAACP Image Awards for her performances in films such as "Black Nativity; "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," opposite Whoopi Goldberg and Taye Diggs; "The Score," opposite Robert DeNiro, Edward Norton and Marlon Brando; "Music of the Heart," with Meryl Streep; "Malcolm X," opposite Denzel Washington; "Contact" opposite Jodie Foster; "Boesman and Lena" She also received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for her performance in "Ruby's Bucket of Blood," and an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Movie for her work in "The Rosa Parks Story."

Nominations and awards aside, one of the most gratifying moments of her career was the opportunity to merge faith and talent when she gave voice to various characters in the all-time best selling audiobook, "The Bible Experience."

Beginning her career on stage and continuing there to this day, this Yale School of Drama graduate completed several productions on and off Broadway.

Angela and her husband, actor Courtney B. Vance co-wrote the book, "Friends: A Love Story." The inspirational book is the real-life love story of Bassett and Vance, who were friends for many years before marrying. The couple resides outside of Los Angeles with their 10-year-old twins, Bronwyn Golden and Slater Josiah.

(Courtesy of Marcia DeSanctis/Photo: Ron Haviv)

Marcia DeSanctis is the New York Times bestselling author of "100 Places In France Every Woman Should Go." She is a frequent contributor to Vogue and Town & Country, and has also written for O the Oprah Magazine, National Geographic Traveler, BBC Travel, Roads and Kingdoms, Tin House, and The New York Times. Her travel essays have been widely anthologized and she is the recipient of four Lowell Thomas Awards for excellence in travel journalism, including Travel Journalist of the Year in 2012 for her essays from Rwanda, Russia, Haiti and France. She lives in Connecticut with her family.

Jessica AlpertTwitterManaging Producer, Program DevelopmentJessica Alpert is the managing producer for program development at WBUR. In this position, she develops new podcasts and programs while also launching and nurturing WBUR’s newest projects.